Excerpt: Silencing the Seam by Kathleen Groger [Giveaway]

Sixteen-year-old Sam Drake thought she’d left the horrors of spring break and Defiance Castle behind her. But back home, the spirits swirling around her are more demanding, more aggressive.

Fear of being institutionalized by her skeptical mother drives Sam to follow her dad to New Orleans. There she hopes to take back control of her life. But the French Quarter and the cities of the dead have other plans. Hour by hour they drain her, making it next to impossible to fight off a ghost who is determined to use her for its own revenge.

Ensnared in an ancient power struggle where Voodoo rituals, betrayal, and murder rule, Sam must determine who to trust. One step in the wrong direction will lock her inside the Seam to walk among the dead for eternity.

Excerpt…

Sam and Kyle are in the apartment Eric is renting:

Eric’s behavior didn’t make sense. The drinking and going out in the middle of the night. Well, okay, that did. He was used to spending his nights investigating and sleeping during the day. But the texts. Had he texted me while passed out? And why hadn’t I gotten any of them? Somehow I was sure it had something to do with all the damn spirits.

“Wonder if he has anything to eat?” I got up and went to the small kitchen. “Looks like we could have cereal.” I leaned into the fridge. “Or eggs.” I checked the date on them.

“Wait. No eggs.” I was afraid to look at the milk’s expiration date.

Kyle turned on the TV and flicked through the channels. I left the sad kitchen and flipped through the papers on the table. I picked up one of the Voodoo books and scanned the table of contents for gris-gris bags. I had just found the chapter when Kyle stopped flipping channels and stopped on the local news.

“Breaking news in Orleans Parish. A young woman’s body has been found. We go live to reporter Anthony Edwards at the scene. What do we know, Anthony?” The news anchor’s voice was syrupy even when she was speaking about someone dying.

I set down the book and stood behind the futon, my hands on the back of it.

“Earlier today a young woman was found outside the Hoodoo House, a closed bar that had gained notoriety from all the crimes committed steps from its doors. The woman appears to have been strangled. Authorities put her time of death around two this morning.”

The camera cut to the anchorwoman. “Has she been identified yet?”

“The police said she had no identification and are asking for the community’s help in identifying her. This is a picture of her, taken from her phone.”

The camera then cut to a selfie of a pretty woman in her late teens or early twenties. She had a round face, shoulder-length brown wavy hair, and brown eyes. Her nose looked just like mine. Her eyebrows were the same shape.

I grabbed the metal bar on the back of the futon frame. I was suddenly nauseous, and a pounding not unlike a drum throbbed behind my eyes.

The dead woman looked like she could be my older sister, and there was one spirit who had killed lots of woman who looked like me.

“If you have any idea who this woman is, please call the Orleans Parish Police at the number scrolling on the bottom of the screen. Now let’s turn it over to Ben and the weather.”

The laughing voices of hundreds filled my ears. He was back. And he was killing again.

Killing women who looked like me.

Meet the author…

Kathleen wrote her first story in elementary school about a pegasus named Sir Lancelot. It had no plot or conflict, but it sparked a dream. After serving a fifteen-year sentence in retail management, the bulk in big box bookstores, she turned her love of reading into a full-time career writing dark and haunting characters and stories. She writes paranormal, fantasy, suspense, horror YA books. She is a contributing member of READerlicious, writers who love readers. Check out her blogs here.

She lives by the mantra that a day is not complete without tea. Lots of tea. Kathleen lives in Ohio with her husband, two boys, and two attention-demanding dogs. When not writing or editing or revising, you can find her reading, cooking, spending time with her family, or photographing abandoned buildings.

Post Navigation

About Me

Hey, guys! I'm Kristin and I love reading all things romance. My reading preference changes based on my mood but if it's got a smidgen of romance in it, I'll read it. Outside of reading I'm a huge animal lover, I love to cook, and I'm currently teaching myself to knit. I love to chat with other readers so feel free to add me on any of my social media platforms.